Heike Kagero (平家陽炎 / へいけ かげろう Heike Kagerō) made his only appearance in the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!! as the second boxer in the World Circuit. He is a Japanese kabuki as well as a standard bishōnen and a spiritual successor of Great Tiger.
As Heike is of Japanese origin, in the Japanese release of Super Punch-Out!! his name is written in Japanese characters; being 平家陽炎 (or as written in Kana; へいけ かげろう). Heike, alongside Hoy Quarlow, are the only opponents in the Japanese version of the game to not feature their names written using characters from the Latin alphabet.
In Japanese, the surname appears before the given name, meaning that "Heike" (meaning "House of Taira", possibly in reference to the Taira Clan family) is actually his surname/family name and "Kagero" (meaning "Heat Haze" in Japanese) is his given name.
Appearances
Super Punch-Out!! (1994)
In the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!!, he sometimes swings his long hair against his opponent. He also does his "mirage dance", which is similar to the way Great Tiger moves around before throwing his 'Tiger Punch' in the Super Punch-Out!! arcade, but a lot faster. Every time he knocks down his opponent, he dances in the corner while waiting for his opponent to stand up. His palette swap is Dragon Chan. He, Mr. Sandman, Aran Ryan and Super Macho Man are the only boxers who can get up at the count of 1 in Super Punch Out.
His "mirage dance" is followed up with random attacks. The attack could be either Heike flicking his hair (which must be avoided by dodging left then down), throwing a punch to the chest or taunting before performing three punches to the face and a hook consecutively. Similarly to Don Flamenco, he will always throw a quick punch upon getting up. If he wins the match, he will brush his hair aside and run his glove in front of his neck along with him going "Woooo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoooo!". If you run out of time, he will instead brush his hair three times.
Rule Infractions
As per the unified rules of boxing established by the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combat Sports:
- His pink makeup counts as face coverings which is not allow.
- Boxers with long hair need to cut it or style it in a way to keep it away from their face to avoid obscuring their vision or getting ripped out, something Heike Kagero does not do.
- In addition, the act of using his long hair to attack is an illegal maneuver and can distract the opponent.
- It's also a possibility that his hair may have foreign objects (such as strips of metal) on the ends of it due to how much damage it does to Little Mac.
- While there are no rules regarding the use of magic, the teleportation used for his Mirage Dance attack would be illegal due to the potential for stalling the fight.
In total, Heike Kagero has 4 infractions (potentially 5) in his fighting style and attire.
Gallery
Quotes
- "Be gentle with me, please. Hoo, hoo, hoo, hooo!" (first match)
- "Uh oh! Is it you again?" (rematch)
- "You are so strong. Hoo, hoo, hoo, hooo." (endgame)
- "Eih!" (When receiving a KO Punch)
- "Guuuh!" (When knocked down or dizzied.)
- Woooo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoooo! (Victory)
- "Show him the mirage dance". (his cornerman, telling him to use random attacks)
Trivia
- Heike is the youngest opponent in Super Punch-Out!! and in the series, excluding Little Mac.
- He and Dragon Chan are the only palette swaps who don't share voices at all.
- If the game is paused post knockout but pre-grunt, then unpaused, a small glitch can be heard where Heike's voice echoes.
- Despite being male, his poster clarifies him training in nihon buyo; an influence of nihon buyo is kabuki, a style of Japanese theater. It was originally played by only female actors, which may explain his long hair and pink attire.
- There is a pixel of his hair color on his neck during his KD, which is unusual considering that his actual hair is a few pixels to the right.
- This might be just a strand of hair, or a sprite error.
- There is also a pixel of the lighter color of his shorts next to the foot that always faces Little Mac. This may also be a game error.